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Yoma 25

1) THE "LISHKAS HA'GAZIS"

QUESTIONS: The Payesos were done in the Lishkas ha'Gazis. The Beraisa states that when the Payesos were done, the Zaken sat in the western part of the Lishkas ha'Gazis and the Payis was done in the eastern part. Half of the Lishkah was in an unsanctified area, and half was in a sanctified area of the Azarah.

(a) Which half of the Lishkas ha'Gazis was built in an unsanctified area?

(b) How can even half have been built in a sanctified area? The Gemara says that the Lishkas ha'Gazis was built like a "basilica" which Rashi explains is a house on the upper story of another structure. Why, then, was any of it sanctified? The Gemara in Pesachim (86a) says that roofs and upper stories, of structures in the Azarah were not sanctified. If so, how could any part of the Lishkas ha'Gazis be Kodesh?

ANSWERS:

(a) Most Acharonim explain that the *northern* part of the Lishkas ha'Gazis was built in an unsanctified area. Their logic is sound; the Gemara earlier (19a) listed the Lishkas ha'Gazis as one of the Lishkos on the northern side of the Azarah. As such, it might have been built straddling the border of the Azarah, so that half of it was north of the Azarah on Har ha'Bayis (and not Kodesh) and half (the southern half) was in the Azarah. The Zaken sat on the western side of the half of the Lishkah which extended beyond the northern border of the Azarah, and thus they were sitting in the unsanctified part (for it is forbidden to sit in the sanctified part of the Azarah). The Payis was done in the eastern side of the southern half of the Lishkah, or the half that was in the Azarah and which was Kodesh.

SEFER EZRAS KOHANIM asks why was it that the Zaken had to sit specifically in the *western* side of the northern half of the Azarah? Since the entire northern half of the Lishkah was not Kodesh, the Zaken could just as well sit in the eastern side! Similarly, why did the Payis have to take place specifically in the eastern side of the part of the Lishkah which was in the Azarah? The whole southern half of the Lishkah was in the Azarah and the Payis could have been done anywhere throughout that section!

Perhaps the answer is that the Rabanan wanted to Zaken to be as close as possible to the Shechinah, so they instituted that he sit in the western side of the Lishkah, which was closer to the Kodesh ha'Kodashim (in the west of the Azarah). In contrast, the Rabanan wanted the Payis to be done as far away from the Shechinah as possible, because "it is not respectful for there to be a crowd in the place of the Shechinah," as the Gemara says later (26a).

As mentioned, this is the opinion of most of the Acharonim. However, the RAMBAM (Perush ha'Mishnayos, end of Midos) writes, based on our Gemara, that the western side was unsanctified in order for the Zaken to sit there, while the eastern side, where the Payis was done, was Kodesh and thus they had to stand while they were there. How could it be that the western side of the Lishkah was unsanctified if the Lishkas ha'Gazis was on the east of the Azarah? The *eastern* side of the Lishkah is the only part that could possibly be unsanctified (as it could jut out past the eastern border of the Azarah). How could the *western* side of the Lishkah be unsanctified?

The EZRAS KOHANIM (Midos 5:4) suggests that the Lishkas ha'Gazis was not in the north-eastern part of the Azarah. Rather, perhaps it was set apart from the other Lishkos and was in the north-*western* part of the Azarah. If it was built along the western wall of the Azarah, its western section may have jutted out past the western wall of the Azarh, putting it outside of the Azarah. It was in that half of the Lishkah, which was not in the Azarah, that the Zaken sat.

(b) The EZRAS KOHANIM and SHILTEI GIBORIM (Midos) point out that the ground level of Har ha'Bayis was much lower than that of the Azarah. Consequently, if the Lishkas ha'Gazis extended northward from within the Azarah, passing the border of the Azarah to the area over Har ha'Bayis, then the part of the Lishkah that extended over Har ha'Bayis would be much higher than the ground level of Har ha'Bayis. When the Gemara says that the Lishkas ha'Gazis was like a "basilica," it is referring to the side of the Lishkah that protruded out of the Azarah over Har ha'Bayis; that part of the Lishkah was much higher than the ground level, like an upper story, or "basilica." However, since it was on level ground with the Azarah, it would have been Kodesh if not for the doorway leading out to Har ha'Bayis, because the Gemara in Pesachim (86a) says that any upper story which was on ground level with the Azarah is Kodesh.

25b

QUESTION: The Gemara cites a Beraisa in which Rebbi Yehudah states that there was no Payis done for the Avodah of the Machteh (bringing the coals in a coal scoop from the outer Mizbe'ach to the inner Mizbe'ach). Rather, it was included in the Payis that was done for the Ketores (whichever Kohen was selected for the Ketores, the Kohen to his right would be the one to perform the Avodah of the Machteh, -Rashi). The Gemara says that without Rebbi Yehudah's statement, we would have thought that since whoever does the Avodah of the Machteh becomes wealthy and it is not a frequently-performed Avodah, it should have its own Payis (in order to give every Kohen a chance to become wealthy).

Where does it say that the person who does the Avodah of the *Machteh* becomes wealthy? Rashi refers to the Gemara on the next Daf, which says that the *Ketores* makes a person wealthy. But that Gemara is only discussing the Ketores. How do we know that the Machteh makes a person wealthy?

ANSWER: The Tana of this Beraisa holds that the Machteh also makes a person wealthy, as the Yerushalmi says (quoted by the Tosfos Yeshanim, end of 26b). The verse that teaches that the Ketores makes one wealthy -- "Barech Hashem Cheilo" -- also teaches that the Machteh makes one wealthy when it concludes "u'Fo'al Yadav Tirtzeh" (Devarim 33:11).

That is why the Machteh was chosen only by the third Payis, in which only Kohanim who had never before been selected to do the Ketores or Machteh could participate.